And This City Shall Be As It Once Was
by NocturnalRites
Summary: A look from Diggle's POV of the six months he and Felicity spent back in Starling City while Oliver was on Lian Yu. Olicity.


A view from Digg's POV of the six months before Digg and Felicity find Oliver on Lian Yu. Olicity.

AN: This idea came from a random comment I made on a Tumblr response this morning. I'd always wondered what had happened to Digg and Felicity in the six months while Oliver was back on Lian Yu and what motivated them to get Oliver back to take up the Hood again. The Tolkien slipped in quite by accident, while I was looking for a quote I vaguely remembered about a king returning, and it occurred to me that the theme of belief and faith in someone you loved who could be a heroic person if they'd just get over their self-doubt and try was something with which Felicity would probably identify.

And no, I'm not trying to imply there's no love there, just that, especially now, both of them are/were in denial or at least, not willing to admit anything. I hope nobody finds it too sentimental, but it's what seemed right to say. Constructive comments and criticisms welcomed.

#########

John Diggle couldn't fathom why Felicity insisted on going back to the foundry, unless it was just another kind of funeral for her. In the week since the earthquake machine ripped through the Glades, there had been a lot of those, Tommy Merlyn's among them.

The bunker looked exactly as John would have expected the basement of a aging former foundry to look in the aftermath of a major earthquake. Chunks of concrete littered the floor, exposing broken, rusted rebar bones. Cables swung drunkenly from what remained of the ceiling. A fine haze hung over the room and every breath tasted of gypsum and grit.

Digg had seen more than his fair share of places like this in Afghanistan. Some, he'd even caused. Seeing it at home, in a place he'd helped set up as a place of safety, punched him in the gut.

Silently, he held up a dangling cable so Felicity could scramble under, then followed her as she walked slowly through the mess. She stopped a few feet from where her desk had been. A rusted piece of machinery had fallen from the floor above and landed squarely where she used to sit.

Gently, he put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. She'd been pale and silent on the drive over, and he'd thought part of it might have been the stress of having to come back to the place where she'd nearly died. More than once on the way across town, they'd seen rescue workers crawling over piles of rubble, dispirited worker ants searching for crumbs of hope that they'd find survivors instead of bodies. As she stood, arms crossed, staring at her smashed chair, Digg knew what she had to be thinking: that he could be there trying to retrieve her body, instead of standing with her looking at ruins.

"You okay?" he asked.

Absently, she reached up and patted his hand. Comforting him, he realized.

"Yeah." She sighed as she took in the shattered remains of the computers. "My poor babies. Oh, well. At least I'll be designing the system from scratch this time. Honestly, letting Oliver around computers is like putting a bunch of monkeys into a room with a box of spare parts. All you end up with is lots of crap thrown everywhere and nothing that works. And you can do some real security down here, too. Between us, we can design a really good bunker, instead of a cobbled together hideyhole."

He withdrew his hand. "Wait. What do you mean, _this_ time?"

She tilted her chin up. There was a slight redness to her eyes that he suspected was from more than the dust in the air or fatigue, but she was all business. "I mean, we're rebuilding this for Oliver. He'll need it."

Digg sighed. "Felicity," he said as gently as he could. "Oliver's gone."

"I know. He left me a text message, the jerk." She pointed to the ceiling. "This is really good, in a way. There's no way we could have gotten all this stuff torn down otherwise. Now, we can get rid of all that old asbestos and stuff. The nightclub cover is perfect. We can get some more soundproofing in here while we're at it, too. I think I'll get the ethernet -"

"_Felicity_. He didn't tell me where he was going, and what information I do have is a false trail. I don't have any idea where he is. That usually means people don't want to be found." He took a deep breath. "Face it, Felicity. Oliver doesn't want to come back."

"Tough. Two to one, Team Arrow vote, Oliver loses. He's going to be back because we're going to find him and drag him back here."

"Why?" Digg asked, exasperated.

Her glasses flashed as she looked up at him, pinning him with her bright blue gaze. "Because Starling City needs him," she said simply. "A lot of people are going to need him, including Thea and his mom."

Digg hesitated. "A lot of people...or you?"

"Digg. Do you know of anyone else who has the guts and motivation and resources to put all this right?" She gestured in a wide circle, indicating the Glades. "I mean, do we know _anyone_ who would be both obsessed enough and skilled enough to do as much as he already has? If he was that determined to fix what his father did, how much more will he want to make reparations for what his mother helped cause? Besides, you know _he_ feels responsible for not preventing it in the first place. He'll come back. He's just...sitting around questioning himself and brooding somewhere." She shook her head. "Like that's such a shock," she added under her breath.

"You have a point," Digg conceded. "But you still didn't answer the question."

"Because it's not relevant."

"I think it is." Digg sighed. "Felicity...yeah, I agree, he's got a lot more to him than I thought he did at first. I still want to beat his head half the time, but I love him like my brother." At her quick, amused glance, he added hastily, "And if you ever tell him that, I will deny it. I'm not doing the hug thing for him."

She nodded her understanding. "It's just..." her small hands flickered, sketching invisible castles in the air. "I don't see things as parts, even when they're not assembled. Like when I'm building a computer, or creating a program. I see what it can be when it's all together. I'm not usually that way with people, but with Oliver..." She shook her head. "He says he's damaged, but I see that having been damaged, he can rebuild to be something greater than he was. He really can. And he _wants_ to. He just needs a little help. That's where we come in." Her tone grew wistful. "Besides, working with you guys...I really felt as if I were part of something good. Something _more_. Like I had a purpose I didn't know I needed. Kind of like being a companion to Doctor Who but without the TARDIS. Didn't you?"

Digg looked around at the destruction. He thought of the service to his country, which he'd undertaken in all honor. Of the soul-eating questioning he'd done after Afghanistan, wondering if what he'd had to do in the name of duty was, in fact, for good, and if so, for whose good it had been. If he was still a good man, after what he'd done.

He had to admit, the ghosts riding his shoulder had quieted while he worked with the Hood. The specter that wasn't going away, the one he needed most to lay to rest, was the one of his brother. With the Hood, he might actually be able to find Deadshot again, give Andy the peace he deserved. He wasn't going to get help from Lyla and A.R.G.U.S., not anymore.

Redemption wasn't something earned easily, but John Diggle knew any chance to earn it wasn't something to pass over. Oliver Queen was his best, and perhaps last, shot at getting it.

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"'A King will come and this city shall be as it once was before it fell into decay.'" She smiled a little. "Or in this case, a Queen."

"Is that you or a quote?"

"Tolkien. Gandalf. Return of the King." At his incredulous look, she shrugged. "So what if it's a fantasy? It's not as far-fetched as it sounds, really. The concept of someone in the right place with the power to put things back together, that is, not the elves and hobbits part."

"Ah. Good, because I was going to start worrying if you had me in mind as a hobbit."

"Maybe a _really_ big Gimli," she teased. "I'm no Arwen, either, though I'd pick her every time. I liked that Aragorn ended up having the courage to stop questioning himself and become king because she believed in him and he loved her."

She looked pensive. Not a good sign. "Arwen wasn't blonde," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, well, neither am I. Dyed, remember?"

He sighed. "I just don't want you..." he stopped, unsure how to finish the sentence without being tactless.

"Getting some romantic notions about Oliver Queen? Imagining myself as some fantasy heroine who can save the hero from himself?" Her small smile hurt his heart a little, but her tone was brisk and practical as ever. "Yeah, nope. Don't worry, Digg. I'm not idealizing him because of some stupid crush, okay? Yes, he's beautiful and I've got hormones and no, I'm not blind. But I'm not _that_ girl, not for him. I don't ever expect to be. But that's okay. And I don't think that kind of relationship exists outside of books, even if it would be a wonderful kind of partnership to have." She turned her attention back to the ethernet cables. He wondered if she even noticed that she sighed. "But I know how to fix things, and I can be stubborn when he gets stupid, and I can believe in his broody self. That'll be enough."

##########

Money harnessed with Felicity Smoak's drive and organizational skills turned into progress at a speed that stunned even Digg. To find Oliver, she hacked into secure databases, ruthlessly diverted satellites and stole images, made computers tell truths they were never meant to divulge. Digg took her leads and did the footwork, calling in favors from friends in A.R.G.U.S. and the Army, went undercover and investigated the seamy nooks and crannies her computers couldn't reach.

Felicity drove herself with caffeine-fueled determination, and Digg followed suit. Part of it was because he could do no less than what Felicity was doing, but part of it was avoidance. The more time he spent with Carly, the more he felt Andy, silent and cold and waiting for justice. More and more, Digg felt he was stealing his brother's life, the happiness Andy could have had, should have had.

Eventually, the invisible third presence took its toll, and he and Carly split. The night it happened, Felicity brought a twelve pack of beer and sat in uncharacteristic if companionable silence, sipping one bottle while Digg played his favorite jazz recordings of Charlie "Bird" Parker and John Coltrane and finished the rest of the beer.

The headline on the day's paper, spread out over his coffee table, screamed, "Queen Consolidated Targeted By Takeover."

Neither of them mentioned it, but they both knew time was running out and some of their faith along with it.

#########

When Digg brought her the news, Felicity was in the lair, standing in front of an opened case, examining the bow inside.

"Got him," Digg handed her the charts. "And get this, he's on Lian Yu."

Felicity rolled her eyes. "Of course. A billionaire with unlimited resources and all the vacation destinations in the world to choose from, and where does he go? Right back to hell on earth. That makes about as much sense as Gilligan going on another three hour tour."

He noticed her hands were shaking as she closed the case. "Nervous?"

Carefully, she smoothed her hand over the leather, dragging in a deep, shaky breath as she did. "What if we get there and I can't think of any way to persuade him?" she asked. "We get one shot at this before QC gets taken over, and if that happens, he'll probably just sit there and mope himself to death."

"One thing I do not worry about is Felicity Smoak not thinking of something to say."

"Very funny. Babbling isn't going to help. It has to be the right thing. I have to _do_ the right thing." She bit her lower lip, today painted cerise.

"Don't worry about it. It'll come to you."

"I guess." She sighed and flipped her ponytail back over her shoulder. "So, what airline are we using? Do they have peanut-free snacks? You know I have nut allergies."

Digg coughed. What she didn't know couldn't hurt her, although she'd very likely try to hurt _him_ once she found out the truth and couldn't go back. "I don't think you'll have to worry about the snacks, no."

#########

One week later, John Diggle stood in the middle of a jungle on an island off the coast of China, three feet from a live land mine. Felicity was exactly three feet closer to it than he was. The two of them froze at the sound of the 'click', exchanging mutual _Oh, shit_ looks.

Digg took a deep breath. Antique ordnance. He had a snowball's chance in hell of disarming the damn thing, but everyone had to die of something. He'd just do his best and hope his - their - time wasn't today.

"I'm going to try to disarm it," he told Felicity, who dipped her chin in a tiny nod.

"You can't."

They both looked as one up to the branch where Oliver Queen stood, bow in hand, looking disgruntled. Digg wondered how long he'd been stalking them. If he even would have come out at all if Felicity hadn't stepped on the mine.

"Diggle. Back away. Felicity, don't move."

Still watching Felicity, Diggle backed out of the blast radius. He knew she was terrified; hell, who wouldn't be, standing on something which could blow you to pieces if you sneezed? But her eyes were locked on the figure in the trees and she didn't flinch as she raised her hand to him. He could almost feel her willing Oliver to succeed, not just to save her, but to take the first step towards being the hero she was convinced he could be.

Digg wasn't at all surprised when Oliver did exactly what Felicity believed he could do.

#######

Most people thought the Starling City vigilante reappeared to save Thea Queen from a band of masked vigilantes, but Diggle knew better. Oliver really resumed wearing the hood that day on Lian Yu, when he chose to come out of hiding and risk his life to save Felicity. And that, Digg thought, was exactly how it ought to be.


End file.
